IIFA 2017 day 1
Celebrities at IIFA 2017 day 1Twitter

Bollywood stars have reached New York City for the grand International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Award 2017 ceremony, which is being held from July 13-15. The event kicked started with Sonakshi Sinha ringing the closing bell at Nasdaq, Times Square, followed by a press conference on the first day.

Take a glance at what all happened on Day 1 of the three-day extravaganza.

IIFA 2017: Event schedule, where to watch live

The press conference was attended by several celebrities like Shahid Kapoor, Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Anupam Kher, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon.

Salman sang a birthday song for Katrina Kaif, who celebrates her birthday on July 16, along with the rest of the celebrities, leaving the Jagga Jasoos actress red faced.

IIFA 2017 day 1
IIFA 2017 day 1: Salman Khan and Katrina KaifTwitter

Shahid Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt were seen rehearsing their performances on the stage for the star-studded event.

In the evening, a party and fashion show was held for the guests arriving for IIFA 2017. Celebrities like Shilpa Shetty and Dia Mirza dazzled on the stage as they walked the ramp.

The day 2 (IIFA Rocks), which will be hosted by Riteish Deshmukh and Maniesh Paul, will celebrate 25 years of AR Rahman in the industry.

The final award night on July 15 will see some power-packed performances by Salman, Shahid, Katrina, Alia, Varun and Sushant. The award ceremony will be hosted by Karan Johar and Saif Ali Khan and promises to be a grand affair. Varun, who will be making his debut at the IIFA Awards, will pay tribute to his father David Dhawan by performing on the filmmaker's chartbuster songs.